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Laboratory incubators are devices
used to grow and maintain microbiological cell cultures. CO2 incubators
work in such a way that it controls three important factors for cell growth:
temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide level. It is important to
avoid microbial contamination and maintain the purity of these cell cultures in
order to obtain accurate test results.

Copper and its alloys have been
known to have antimicrobial properties since the dawn of civilization, although
the molecular mechanisms by which they work are still under investigation.

In line with this, the
microbiologists of Esco did a study on the antimicrobial effectiveness of pure
copper and its alloys on six different organisms, namely: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
Staphylococcus epidermidis, Candida albicans, and Bacillus atrophaeus.

The test results indicate
significant reduction of cells upon contact with copper and its alloys. It was
found out that pure copper is the most effective antimicrobial surface. In
fact, it can kill all cells (E. coli, S.
aureus, P. aeruginosa, and S. epidermidis) in just one hour, although it
took a longer time for the C. albicans and B. atrophaeus cells to be reduced. It
was also found out that copper alloy C19210 is the most effective against
microorganisms, having the most copper content compared to the other alloys.